The Centre for Hydrology and Canadian Society for Hydrological Sciences will again be holding their popular short course in Physical Principles of Hydrology in the Kananaskis Valley, Alberta, from March 1-12, 2012.
The course is intended for hydrology and water resources graduate students and early to midlevel career water resource engineers, hydrologists, aquatic ecologists and technologists from Canada who are either working directly in hydrology and water resources or are looking to broaden their understanding of hydrological systems and processes.
Factors governing hydrological processes within the context of distinctly Canadian landscape features will be discussed. Students will be exposed to an overview of each subject, with recent scientific findings and new cutting edge theories, tools and techniques, through a combination of classroom sessions at the University of Calgary’s Biogeoscience Institute’s Barrier Lake Station, and fieldwork at the Marmot Creek Research Basin.
Students will emerge from the course with a deeper understanding of physical hydrological processes and how they interact to produce catchment water budgets and streamflow response, together with state-of-the-art field instrumentation and measurement techniques.
More information is available here, or from Dr Chris Spence or Dr John Pomeroy

Andrew Ireson, Assistant Professor in Subsurface Hydrology with the School of Environment and Sustainability and the Global Institute for Water Security, is keen to hear from grad. students who may be interested in participating in an Invitational Drought Tournament.
This is a game in which students from U of Alberta, U of Regina and U of Saskatchewan will form multi-disciplinary teams, consisting of approximately five players. Having chosen their initial conditions or ‘preparedness strategies’, teams will be guided through a simulated multi-year drought scenario of unknown length and severity, throughout which they will work collaboratively to discuss and select adaptation options that should help them better prepare for, adapt to, respond to, and recover from the drought’s impacts. The chosen strategies should maximize economic benefits and reduce social and ecological stress. More details are given here, in a description of a similar tournament held last year.
The game will take place in late February / early March of 2012. At this stage, Andrew is looking to find out who is interested in participating. This is all about decision-making under pressure, with finite resources, focusing on minimizing environmental impacts of droughts, which are one of the most expensive, devastating natural disasters in the Canadian prairies (billion dollar impacts). It should also be great fun – it’s a game after all. If you think you would like to take part, or if you have any questions or comments please get in touch with Andrew.